E 359 
. U504 

Copy 1 is^l HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. ^ REi'd'T 

No.4iv. 






BAILEY & DELORU. 

May 14, 1858. 

Mr. S. S. Marshall, from the Committee of Claims, made the fol* 

lowing 

REPORT. 

The Committee of Claims, to tvhom ivas referred the petition of IVilliarn 
Bailey and Henry Delord, formerly merchants and partners selling 
goods in Flattsbnrg, Neiv York, ^'praying compensation for merchan- 
dise furnished the soldiers stationed at Plattshurg in 1814-'15j" have 
had the same under consideration and beg leave to report: 

The claim of the heirs of Michael Johnson, reported on adversely 
by your committee, was one, in every respect, similar to the claim of 
Bailey & Delord, which has been before Congress for the last twenty- 
five years. The evidence shows that Bailey & Delord furnished a 
large amount of merchandise to the officers and soldiers of the United 
States army, upon the assurance of the officers that they should be 
paid so soon as the troops received their money. The credit was evi- 
dently given the men, though induced by the personal assurance of 
the officers that they would aid in securing payment. The amount 
furnished is not established by satisfactory evidence, nor is it shown 
how much was eventually paid for by the sol liers. Estimates are 
made by one or two witnesses, but not based upon any dxda. The 
papers of Bailey & Delord are proven to have been destroyed by fire 
in 1825. But your committee believe that if the amount could be ac- 
curately ascertained, it would still be no claim against the govern- 
ment. As was shown in the case of the heirs of Michael Johnson, 
" the troops were supplied with rations not by commissaries, but by 
contractors ; and that for supplying the troops in the portion of the 
State of New York wherein Plattsburg is situated, from the 1st June, 
1814, to the 31st May, 1815, William D. Cheever was the contractor, 
and on file with his accounts there are found to be regularly certified 
monthly abstracts of issues of complete rations to the troops at Platts- 
burg for the whole time " 

On the 10th of April, 1840, Mr. Hubbard reported from the Com- 
mittee of Claims as follows : 

" The Committee of Claims, to tvhom teas referred House hill No. 43, ^for 
the relief of JVilliam Bailey, survivor of Bailey ct Delord,' report: 



" That the claim in this case, and the evidence upon which it rests, 
are fully set forth in the printed reports accompanying the bill. After 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

i I I MM I lill l|{l l|[' 



/ BAILKY AM) DELORD. 

011 898 197 
» careful examination, your conimitteu can see no reason for allowing 
iny part of the petitioner's claim. Tliev cannot recognize any justice 
in tlie |irinc-ijilt' iipun wliicli its ])fiyinent is advocated — that the United 
iStates arc buuml td make gotnl to individuals losses wliich they may 
have 8Uf<taint'd by extending credit to the otticers and soldiers of the 
army. The risk of non-payment for the credits given in this case 
Wlongs exclunively to the j)etitioners, and tlie jjfofits charged^ were, 
or ought to have been, commensurate with the risk. Although the 
practice has not l)een entirely unifurm, the United States have in some 
instances heretofore refused to make remuneration to sutlers for losses 
incurred hy trusting soldiers in the army, and have declined to pay 
tliem the wages due to soldiers who had deserted, died, or were 
discliarged, in their debt. Much less can it be expected tliat they 
should make up, after the lapse of more than twenty years, the losses 
sustained by individual creditors, in no way connected witli the police 
of the army, or subjected to its regulations. They therefore recom- 
mend tlie iiidelinite post]M)nement oi" the bill." 



Your committee, concurring fully in the above report, report back 
the said petition to the House and ask to be discharged from its fur- 
ther consideration. 



